The Girl with the Cat-Eared Headphones
by shoujoaxolotl
Summary: SHADOWRUN. Decker Serenity Midori lives an isolated life, preferring the comforts of her small apartment and security of her walled-up heart. But when news surfaces about who murdered her childhood's friends family, Serenity must face her past demons and help her friend Koto to avenge his family; as well as discovering the secrets behind a floppy disk responsible for her grief.
1. Chapter 1

The Girl with the Cat Eared Headphones

Chapter One

Rolling over in bed, her extended arm touched warm and she awoke immediately. Honey brown eyes blinking away sleep, she smiled at the sight of him. Her mop of thick black hair poked out from under the white duvet as her almond shaped eyes fluttered open at her touch, partially covered by the intricate facial tattoos that demonstrated her affiliation. A look of horror overtook her as blood poured from her mouth. "Serenity…" She choked out as the duvet stained red. "Why…"

"Marina!" Bolting upright, Serenity Midori found herself covered in chilling cold sweat. Yet another nightmare. Serenity breathed heavily, and looked around her. The queen-sized mattress covered in stuffed animals lay on the distressed wooden floor, paint peeling from the walls to reveal the brick underneath, which was then covered up with various posters of video games she liked. What was once used for a kitchen table now served as a desk for her equipment, which took up much of the open space in the apartment, the rest filled with figurines, gaming consoles and other things she had won by hacking arcade machines. The minifridge was empty save for half a bottle of ketchup and a few cans of beer, the cupboards full of salty, sweet and unhealthy snacks that she lived from.

What had once been a happy and cheerful home had become a hole for the recluse she had become. She plucked her flip-phone from the floor where it had been charging and saw that it was nearing 2am. The floorboards creaked slightly due to the base from the club below, and reluctantly pulling herself from bed, Serenity decided to go earn her keep. Pulling on a pair of black thigh high stockings, Serenity dressed in one of her various seifuku and pulled on her headphones, which blinked with pink LEDs in the shape of cat ears. Stuffing her bag full of snacks as well as the required equipment, she exited through the fire escape and down to the busy side street.

The Neon Velvet was always busy on Saturday nights, a line out the door of regulars and newcomers trying to be hip and edgy. Pushing her way to the front of the line, Serenity adjusted the bow that rested on her chest and was met at the door by a 6-foot ork with large canines protruding from his lower jaw, and sand colored skin. He wore a dress shirt and dark pants that barely fit his 200-pound frame, the sleeves rolled up to display large arms covered in shamanistic tattoos. "Busy night, Cletus?"

"It's always busy on weekends, little kitten." He replied fondly, stepping aside. His head turned upon hearing moans and protests from those still in line. "Shut the glitch up, all of you! I decided whether you get in or not, so show some glitching respect!"

Thanking the large ork, Serenity stepped through the heavy graffitied doors and into the Neon Velvet. It was as if the Northern Lights had been captured within the walls, the dry-ice smoke swirled blues, acid green, hot pink and every other color imaginable. Bodies molded together on the dancefloor and seemed to pulsate to the rhythm of the music like a single organism. "Serenity!" Turning her head, the human girl looked in the direction she heard her name from over the booming music. A tall and slim elf woman known by the alias of Cherry, clad only in leather G-string with red sequins and spiked nipple tassels, maneuvered herself nimbly around the pole as it rotated thanks to a small motorized drone of Serenity's creation. "I've got your drinks covered for the night cuz Jade called off sick!"

Making a heart shape with her hands, Serenity made her way across the crowded dancefloor to the long bar that ran across the whole back wall. Taking her usual seat at the bar, one of the bartenders made his way to her. "What kind of milk can I get the little kitten?" He was a dwarf named Ezra, who had a special beam built behind the bar so that he could see over it and served the strongest drinks in blocks.

"I'm feeling like some Taéngelé tonight. Cherry's good for it." Serenity admitted, and watched the man pour as she sorted out her gear. "Thought I'd come check on the security drones since I'm awake at this godly hour. How's Grelda and the little ones?"

Placing the glass of amber liquid on the bar, Ezra watched as the petite decker shot it back and nodded for another. It was her favorite hard liquor, made of honey and anise, full-bodied and sweet with a pleasant bite of licorice, and a healthy ethanol kick. "They're good, doctor says the little shits are coming along well, grown to the size of lettuce, I'm told." Serenity nodded, please with the news. "I take it that the reason why you can't sleep is the same reason why you're drinking the hard stuff?" She nodded once, and entered the club's security systems with her new cyberdeck. Everything appeared to be in order, only needing a few updates. "New gear?"

"It's the new Fairlight Excalibur. The Holy Grail of cyberdecks." She replied, a smug grin coming to her chapped lips. "Every decker dreams of owning this deck, and luckily I could afford it after my last run, only had to dip into my winnings from the last game tournament I played." Serenity had multiple money schemes on the go, from selling items she won at arcades and professionally playing video games to the less legal shadowrunning and winning game tournaments underhandedly.

"You and them games, I never understood them." Ezra muttered, shaking his head. "But at least they keep you off the streets and out of a cell, or worse a hole in the ground." Serenity nodded; her origins for becoming a shadowrunner were bittersweet, as it always reminded her of things that she would rather forget. Deciding to distract herself with one of her legal pastimes, the girl knocked back the last of her Taéngelé, and began to pack up her things. "Later Ezra, give the wife my love."

It had begun to rain when she walked out the door, accidentally hitting Cletus in the arm. "Takes more than a little bump to hurt me, little one." He smiled, and Serenity returned it. Cletus had always been the type to give tough love, but his kindness towards people he liked was endless. The weather had scared away more of the line of people, so it was quieter. "Well, as quiet as you can get with the glitching advertisements 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

"Money never sleeps, so why should anyone else?" Serenity agreed, opening her pastel colored umbrella covered in caricatured multicolored fish. She walked through the streets of Chicago towards Sapporo, also known as J-Town, where most of the people of Japanese descent spent their time immersed in their home culture. Chicago during the 23rd Century was full of neon and grime, most streets were lit by signs and garbage fires, with flyers and newspapers littering the streets. Entering from a side street as the door opened automatically for people exiting, she walked into one of her favorite, large chain arcades. "Now what game to play?" Serenity made a round in the arcade, seeing various new prizes in UFO and claw machines, as well as new gachapon pods. Every size of stuffed animal and characters from anime series', posters and humongous bags of chips and sweets, there were even watches from advertisers that paid to have their claw machines in the arcade.

Seeing a large, loaf-shaped Shiba Inu stuffed animal in a claw machine, Serenity made her choice for her first target, and took out a large coin purse full of tokens she had previously bought from another arcade across the city. The video security cameras had previously been hacked by her, and were discreetly programmed to recognize her features and erase her from the security footage as well as the movement of the machine she was using. She inserted 5 tokens and received a free play and slowly inched the plush towards the opening in the corner of the machine. Pulling out her cellphone, Serenity flipped it open and, pretending that she was sending an instant message, instead opened a file she had created when she originally decked the machines in the arcade. She clicked the appropriate file and played a few more rounds, inching the plush more before clicking the tab that would compute to the machine as payout, allowing the claw to firmly grasp the prize and bring it to the opening. A short victory melody played as she collected the plush and placed it under her arm as she continued her rounds in the arcade. "I think I want one of those big bags of chips too."

The next game was a little different, as each prize was attached to a string of thread that needed to be cut in order to win the prize. It required immaculate timing, or some simple decking. Serenity only inserted one token and pressed the payout tab, so it would automatically stop at the proper time to win the chips. It would simply look like she was really good at the game. She did the same to win a large bag of cheap chocolate truffles, only taking two tries so she didn't catch attention.

Serenity took out a bag of chocolate covered pretzels from her satchel and continued to walk around the arcade, until a commotion outside attracted her gaze. She met a pair of familiar eyes from the other side of the window.

 **Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my Shadowrun story. I'll do my best to be periodic with my chapter uploads, so please be patient 3** **lots of love, Chiharu**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Serenity groaned and rolled her eyes as her childhood friend darted towards the door of the arcade, and she moved to an area behind a large machine where the security cameras didn't see. Shoving a few more chocolate pretzels into her mouth, she threw the bag into her purse as her friend made his way towards her. "Ren, you gotta help me."

"What have you gotten yourself into now, Koto?" Crossing her arms and hugging her plush over her chest, Serenity leaned against the wall and raised her eyebrows. "More nonsense with the boroyokudan?"

"Those violent criminals ain't got no manners, Ren. But no, that's not it." He said, out of breath as he removed the hood he wore to hide his long lavender mane, which was intricately braided in a classic elven style. His variantly colored eyes scanned the streets, where he saw several uniformed security officers looking for his kind. "There was an Ares heatwave at the Emporium, some poor glitches got caught cheating Damien Knight from his backroom arms profits."

She was surprised anyone could be stupid enough to try and blindside the CEO of Ares Corporations. Serenity also looked out the window, and saw some men dressed in Ares Corp. security uniforms making their way towards the main entrance of the arcade. "Koto, give me your jacket and play this UFO game. Just like old times." Pushing the button that allowed payout for the machine closest to them, Serenity yanked the leather jacket off the shoulders of the tall elf man and pulled it over her seifuku, pushing him towards the machine. Hearing the jingle of the doorbell, she knew they would be looking for anyone looking suspicious, so grasping onto his navy shirt, Serenity did her best puppy eyes and schoolgirl voice. "I want one of those keychains Koto-sempai, can you try and win it for me?"

Startled, Koto faced her and recognized the look in her pale brown eyes as she pointed at the popular bunny keychains in the machine. It was the same look she would give him when they would create elaborate heists of peoples' cred sticks, that was the only time she would ever call him sempai. He smiled and nodded. "I'll do my best, kitten. I'll try and win you as many as I can." He knew she had decked the machines of every arcade in Chicago to make the claws more powerful, so the prizes could be grasped more easily. Koto played the claw game, managing to win a white bunny with blue eyes while Serenity pretended to watch, but nonchalantly would look in the direction of the Ares officers.

"Nagi wants us to go out tonight. Did you want to?" She pulled out her pink decora phone and pressed the payout tab again as she pretended to check her messages. Scanning the machine again, she noticed a large yellow puppy keychain. "Oh, that one! That one, sempai!" Bouncing up and down excitedly to grab attention, they both saw the Ares Corp. men look in their direction.

"Just some kids on a date." One said to the other, decide that they weren't the people they were looking for. "Human girl and some daisy-eater."

Serenity saw Koto's jaw clench at the derogatory term as he continued to play the game, winning another keychain, this time a green frog wearing overalls. "Let's play another game." He decided, watching as the girl collected the prizes from the shoot before walking away.

"How about that one?" She pointed to a machine that held squishy keychains in the shape of popular street food. "The pink ice cream ones with the strawberry pieces are so cute, and the sign says they smell nice too! So, did you want to hang out with Nagi tonight or no?"

Koto played for a moment before Serenity had the chance to deck the machine and failed to pick up anything. "Glitch." He muttered under his breath. "I don't know, I kinda just wanted to be with you tonight, but if you wanna go kitten, we can go."

"I don't know…" Serenity thought, attaching the keychains to her bag. "I think we should just finish up here, walk down Nihongo street, maybe grab a bite to eat somewhere and then go home."

"It's your world, kitten." Koto shrugged, winning a hamburger squishy by grabbing the chain. "Whatever makes you happy, we'll do." Pretending to look out the window at the bustling street outside as the elf continued to win prizes, Serenity noticed that the Ares Corp. men had left the shop, seeing them disappear down an alleyway. "Are they gone?"

She nodded, and took control of the claw machine to win several keychains at once. "It's master's turn now." Maneuvering the crane, she bit her lip in concentration. "The only ice cream color I don't have is the blue swirly one, we already have the pink and green, and thanks to you we have the lilac one and the orange one. Oh, and the hamburger." Tapping the button, Koto watched the crane go down and pick up not only the blue ice cream but also a second hamburger. Serenity stuck her hand in her bag an pulled out a piece of pastry, sticking the piece between her teeth. "Want some? It's matcha flavored and super yummy and flaky."

"I've had these." He said, poking around in her purse among the many bags of sweets to find the pastry. "It's not unpleasantly sweet, which I enjoy. You eat enough sugar for the both of us anyway."

"Always have." Serenity nodded, and retrieved her prizes. "So, care to tell me in further detail why you were in the meat rack Emporium?" Stuffing the prizes into one of the plastic bags provided by the arcade, the petite young woman looked up at the tall and slender elf, arms crossed over the plush covering her chest.

Koto swallowed the visible lump in his throat.

 **Hello again, it's Chiharu. Hope you enjoyed this chapter of The Girl with the Cat Eared Headphones. Just a PSA, the word "glitch" is the Shadowrun equivalent of the f-word. Also, in this world the government is basically the biggest corporations. So that would include Ares Corp., Listerine, Horizon, Ford, etc. Also, humans are not the only race (known as metatype) present in this world. There are also elves, orcs, trolls, and dwarves.**

 **If you have any questions or want in depth information about the Shadowrun , I encourage you to shoot me a message or consult one of the many wiki pages dedicated to it.**


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